Growing popularity in exotic tea types like matcha and sencha will help drive the US tea market to a $10bn valuation by 2022, says market research firm Packaged Facts.

US consumers are increasingly likely to try beverages and flavors from around the world. According to Packaged Facts, the US is a “fertile ground for cross-cultural beverage developments”​ because of its history as a nation of immigrants, and not even a decrease in immigration is likely to change that.

Packaged Facts revealed in its recent US Beverage Market Outlook 2018 report that four specific tea types are having a major moment among US consumers: matcha, moringa, sencha and mizudashi.

David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts, said “Teas are a beverage category in which the appeal of foreign ingredients plays a role. US tea consumers are currently enjoying the varieties ... that have long been staples of Japanese and other Asian cultures.”​

“In the US these are marketed as individual types and also used as components in tea beverages that have ​[been] additionally flavored with fruits and spices. Each of these teas also are favored for their widely recognized health benefits, which is attractive to today's consumers who are trending away from surgary soft drinks and juices."​

Matcha

Matcha is the most well-known ingredient on the list and has been a part of the mainstream US beverage scene for a few years. It’s popular in coffee and tea drinks and is also seen as an out-of-the-box flavor for things like ice cream, smoothies and cheesecake.

It’s most popular in Japan and China, and as a very nutritional form of green tea, it’s sought after for its high levels of potassium, magnesium, vitamins A and C and fiber. It’s also concentrated in the valuable and caffeinated amino acid L-theanine. Matcha offers a long list of benefits including boosting energy and the immune system.

Moringa

Moringa is a very similar ingredient to matcha that hails from India. Moringa tea is still on the fringe of the American mainstream but may soon break through as the matcha hype dies down. It’s most often consumed through the traditional brewing method and hasn’t yet made its way in force to the ready-to-drink (RTD) market of lattes and smoothies in the US.

Made from the leaves of the moringa oleifera tree, this tea is rich in antioxidants and provides 'increased energy and rapid recovery after exercise, mental and emotional balance, and healthy blood sugar levels,' according to Packaged Facts.

Sencha

Though still quite new to the US market, sencha is the most popular green tea variety in Japan, its country of origin. It’s available in traditional tea bags, loose tea and in powder form. Very few US companies offer it and most sencha teas sold in the US are imports from Japan. However, Sencha Tea Bar in Minneapolis, Minn. and Madison, Wis. brews a variety of rare teas including strains of sencha.

Sencha has higher levels of antioxidants than matcha does. It also contains catechins, vitamin C, beta-carotene, folic acid, saponins and potassium that can help lower high cholesterol and protect oral health.

Mizudashi

Iced tea is nothing new, but the method of cold brewing beverages like coffee is slightly different. The popularity of the process is spreading into teas, resulting in a smoother and less bitter taste that better preserves the health benefits of the tea. Mizudashi is the authentic Japanese cold brew process used by Japanese tea marketer ITO EN. Its lineup of ice-steeped cold brew RTD teas launched in the US in 2017.

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The rising awareness about health benefits associated with consuming tea and rise in fitness concerns among people in different regions is the major driver for the tea market. The additional facts that support the growth of the market includes increase in cafe culture, rise in disposable income, change in sense of taste of people and innovation of tea via introducing additional healthy ingredients. However, increase in cost of raw materials due to unpredictable weather, high cost of production and increasing trend of coffee consumption are expected to hamper the growth of market during the forecast period. Rise in demand of tea from health-conscious young population and frequent introduction of new flavors & variety are expected to provide numerous opportunities for expansion of the global tea market